``We have got a rule that if you don`t own it, you don`t use it,`` said Ho`s coach, Rick Massie of the Grenelefe Resort and Conference Center in Haines City. ``He didn`t have the drop shot until this year.``

Ho, of Winter Haven, didn`t have patience in the first set. He came out firing bullets and taking too many chances while Baron played steadily and coasted to a 5-2 lead at the Tennis Club of Fort Lauderdale.

``He started out just way too aggressively, just way too impatient and was giving free lunches all over the court,`` Massie said. ``Ivan`s too good of a player to give him that many presents.``

``I was going for too many shots,`` added Ho, who hadn`t lost a set in the tournament before the final match. ``I wasn`t playing as steady as I did the first couple of matches.``

Ho, a left-hander, slowed his game down in time to battle his way back into the first set. He won four straight games to take a 6-5 lead before Baron broke his serve to even the set at 6-6 and send it into a tiebreaker.

In the tiebreaker, Ho found himself in the hole again when Baron went up 6-2. Again, the top seed dug himself out of trouble and saved four set points to even the tiebreaker. Ho had chances to win the set at 6-7 and 7-8 but let them get away, and Baron prevailed 10-8.

Baron, who had beaten Ho only twice in 12 previous attempts, was in good position to win a third time. Instead, the 1-6 second set was a repeat of his performance in the middle sets of his quarterfinal and semifinal match.

In each of those matches, Baron played a sterling first set and a lackluster second set before winning the third.

``I just got really tired again,`` Baron said.

Five of the final seven games went to deuce, but Ho won four of them. Baron saved two match points in the final game before he hit a forehand long to give Ho the championship.

``I was a little tired, but I wanted to win,`` Ho said. ``After the first set, I told myself if I could get a game lead in the second I could win.``

``After the first set, Tommy slowed down and moved the ball around more and was a little more patient. That was the difference in the match,`` Massie said. ``Tommy likes to play aggressively, but he had to remember this was a clay court touranment.``

If Ho wins The National Championships Aug. 2-8 in Shreveport, La., he will sweep all four national Boys` 14s tournaments. In addition to the Clay Courts, Ho has already won the USTA Hard Court Championships and the USTA Indoor Championships.